Woman and Parliments

Women and Parliamentsin the UK

by Catriona Burness

The support of the JRSST Charitable Trust

in producing this Handbook is gratefully

acknowledged. The JRSST Charitable Trust

is endowed by The Joseph Rowntree

Reform Trust Ltd.

Front cover illustration

Scottish Parliament Chamber

Image © Scottish Parliamentary

Corporate Body – 2010

ISBN: 978-0-9565140-2-8

Notes on the Author

Dr Catriona Burness is an independent writer and consultant on politics. She has

published many articles on the subject of women and politics and has worked at the

universities of Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St Andrews. She has held

study fellowships in Finland, New Zealand and Sweden and worked at the European

Parliament in Brussels for ten years.

3

4. Foreword5. Introduction

6. House of Commons8. Female Candidates and Elected MPs, October 1974-20109. Summary of Female MPs Elected 201010. Former Female Members of Parliament (MPs) 1918-201016. Female MPs Elected, England 201020. Female MPs Elected, Northern Ireland 201021. Female MPs Elected, Scotland 201022. Female MPs Elected, Wales 2010

23. National Assembly of Wales25. Summary of Female Assembly Members (AMs) Elected 1999-200726. Current Female Assembly Members (AMs) 201028. Former Female Assembly Members (AMs) 1999-2010

29. Northern Ireland Assembly31. Summary of Female Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) Elected 1998-200732. Current Female Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) 201033. Former Female Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) 1998-2010

34. Scottish Parliament36. Summary of Female Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) Elected 1999-200737. Current Female Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) 201039. Former Female Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) 1999-2010

40. Conclusion42. Abbreviations used in tables and text42. Note on the tables and useful websites

Contents

4

This handbook on women and parliaments

brings the available but widely dispersed

information on this subject together in one concise

yet comprehensive format. All of the women

elected to Westminster and the devolved

chambers are clearly listed here along with a

series of introductory essays. Each of these

narratives gathers the key historical facts and tells

the story of women’s representation in terms of

the individuals and the wider political movements,

breathing life into the figures presented in the

tables.

Dr Catriona Burness’s skills as a political historian

are apparent in her choice of information. Her

experience in writing for newspapers and

magazines influences her clear presentation and

her work as a political researcher during the years

in question contributes to a lively style.

Making representative democracy truly represen-

tative is an important campaign in its own right.

There is also an increasing body of evidence from

Europe and further afield which records the

positive affects that scrutiny of budgets, policy

and legislation from a women’s perspective, has

on social welfare and poverty questions. Women's

presence in politics benefits the whole community.

Academics, teachers and students will be

interested in this easy to digest summary of

available information. But my hope is that it

becomes widely available to all those older

political activists without whom we would not have

arrived where we are today and to a new

generation of equal rights campaigners whose

energies are still needed to push the case for

maintaining and improving women’s position in the

future. The handbook is exactly the kind of

background information we need to assess where

we are and what needs to be done.

Kate Phillips

Director

The Active Learning Centre

Foreword


5

Almost a century after women first won the right

to vote and to stand for parliament in the UK,

women are still in a minority in our parliamentary

chambers. Tackling the under-representation of

women is a crucial equalities goal whilst

increasing women’s representation may also have

implications for how governments tackle the

issues of poverty and social exclusion.

Several organisations are pursuing the goal of

increasing women’s representation. This handbook

does not compete with their activities but seeks to

complement them. The support of the JRSST

Charitable Trust in producing this Handbook is

gratefully acknowledged. The JRSST Charitable

Trust is endowed by The Joseph Rowntree Reform

Trust Ltd.

The handbook – covering each parliamentary

chamber in the UK in one publication – aims to be

useful to political activists and equal rights

campaigners alike and to help to push the case for

getting more women into politics.

This handbook presents a factual snapshot of the

current position in each elected parliamentary

chamber in the UK. All elected women are listed

alongside tables showing representation by party.

The positions of each of the parties represented in

the chambers in relation to candidate selection for

Westminster and the devolved chambers have

been summarised in essays on each

parliament/assembly. The handbook brings

together information that is otherwise available but

dispersed. On-line publication aims to ease wider

circulation of the handbook which will be

circulated to the political parties and to organi-

sations with an interest in equal opportunities.

The work is timely now as the UK is at a political

crossroads, contemplating constitutional and

electoral reform, and with elections due in the

devolved chambers in Scotland, Northern Ireland

and Wales in 2011. It is feared that women’s

representation will fall at the next elections for the

devolved chambers and equal representation

remains an elusive goal.

Introduction


6

Women candidates were all but invisible during

the 2010 General Election campaign, with the

all-male line-up of the leaders’ debates. Commen-

tators noted that the “obsessive focus on the

leaders’ wives cannot mask the conspicuous

absence of women from the 2010 General Election

campaign.” Harriet Harman MP, current acting

Labour leader, was “clearly regarded by the party’s

high command as a liability”; Ken Clarke handled

questions on unemployment rather than the Conser-

vative shadow spokesperson Theresa May; and the

Liberal Democrat campaign was dubbed the “Nick

and Vince show”. The exceptions in Scotland were

Nationalist deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon and

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader… and they

were not even standing for Westminster.

Yet high numbers of women MPs were elected –

22 per cent of the total. And there were more

women candidates than ever before (878) and a

greater percentage of candidates than previously,

21 per cent.

The Centre for Women & Democracy reported that

the Green Party had the highest percentage of

women candidates (33 per cent), followed by

Labour (30 per cent), the Conservative Party (24

per cent) and the Liberal Democrats (21 per cent).

The Greens put up their highest level of

candidates and women to date - 110 out of 337 -

whilst women fought the party’s most “winnable”

seats (Brighton Pavilion and Norwich North).

Caroline Lucas was duly elected in Brighton and

made history by becoming the first Green MP.

Labour and the Conservatives both also had

record numbers and percentages of women

candidates although the Liberal Democrats had

fewer than in 2005. The Conservatives fielded 151

female candidates (24 per cent as opposed to 19

per cent (122) in 2005 and 14 per cent (92) in

2001). The Labour Party put up 190 women (30

per cent as opposed to 26 per cent (166) in 2005

and 23 per cent (149) in 2001), the highest number

of any of the parties. There were 134 Liberal

Democrat women candidates (21per cent as

opposed to 23 per cent (144) in 2005 and 22 per

cent (139) in 2001).

Since 1918 the Labour Party has returned 60 per

cent of all the women elected to the House of

Commons - 219 of the total of 363 female MPs.

However, the party’s relative electoral success or

failure is mirrored in the respective figures and the

current level of women’s representation reflects

the hung parliament. Eighty-one Labour women

(17 less than in 2005) sit alongside 48 Conser-

vatives (31 more) and eight Liberal Democrats (two

less), and one each from the Alliance, the Greens,

an Independent (Northern Ireland), the SDLP, Sinn

Féin, and the Scottish Nationalists.

The increase in the number of Conservative MPs is

linked to the party’s improved electoral performance

but also to David Cameron’s determination to move

local Conservatives on from seeking “the perfect

son-in-law rather than the perfect candidate”.

“Women have gone missing.”NATASHA WALTER,

GUARDIAN,

28 APRIL 2010

House ofCommons

7

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in

February 2010, Cameron said that he had already

tried everything short of all-women shortlists but still

found that female candidates were forced to “jump

barriers far higher than the men”.

Asked why the system should not be left as a

“meritocracy”, he said: “It doesn’t work. … We

tried that for years and the rate of change was too

slow. Changing a political party and getting things

done is never easy. I had to change the way we

select and promote women. I have given the party

a big shock on this issue.”

The shock echoed through a sequence of party

disputes in the run-up to the election. It is worth

noting that the party’s hierarchy backed the

embattled women. For instance, Norfolk members

who tried to sack Liz Truss as their candidate after

learning that she had had an affair with a Tory MP

were described as “the turnip Taliban”. Requiring

local parties to consider equal numbers of male and

female candidates on shortlists opened up the

Conservative selection procedure. This shift in policy

might create the prospect of future competition

between the Conservative and Labour parties on the

promotion of women, something of a counter to the

backlash perceived over positive action in the

devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales.

It also breaks with past opposition to positive

measures used by other parties, notably Labour’s

use of all-women shortlists from 1994. An

industrial tribunal ruling that all-women shortlists

were illegal in 1996 infuriated women activists but

the party argued that it did not want to jeopardise

the selections that were already made. The policy

is now overwhelmingly recognised as a key factor

in the return of a record number of Labour women

MPs in 1997. The Sex Discrimination (Election

Candidates) Act 2002 later clarified that political

parties in mainland Britain and Northern Ireland

could take measures to reduce inequality in the

numbers of men and women elected, albeit with a

sunset clause in 2015. Many experts (including

Cherie Booth, QC) have maintained that the 2002

law is unnecessary anyway as European law

allows parties to take positive action, evidenced

by the range of measures used across the

European Union much more extensively and

effectively than within the UK.

For the first time since 1918 when women won the

right to vote and to stand for parliament, the 1997

election took women’s parliamentary represen-

tation at Westminster through the ten per cent

threshold. Thirteen years later women have now

breached the twenty per cent threshold. At the

time of writing in September 2010 the UK is in 52nd

place in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) world

ranking of women and parliaments - an

improvement but still with a long way to go

towards equal representation of men and women.

The new Government's promise to “shake up

democracy” does not take account of the recent

(and rare) all-party Speaker's Conference Report

on Parliamentary Representation set up to

“Consider, and make recommendations for

rectifying, the disparity between the representation

of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people

in the House of Commons and their representation

in the UK population at large”.

The Speaker’s Conference proposed an extension

of the current legislation on election candidates

until 2030. More significantly, it recommended that

if women’s representation in the House of

Commons did not increase at the 2010 general

election, Parliament should give serious consid-

eration to introducing prescriptive quotas,

ensuring that all political parties adopt some form

of equality guarantee, in time for the following

general election. The increase in women MPs was

small and the failure to date to include the

Speaker’s Conference recommendations in the

current Coalition Agreement is a great missed

opportunity. It remains to be seen what the new

women MPs themselves might do to compel their

parties to move women out of invisibility.

8

House ofCommons

Female Candidates andElected MPsOCTOBER 1974 – 2010

Year Totalcandidates

Womencandidates

% Womencandidates

Womenelected

% Womenelected

1974 (October)19791983198719921997200120052010

230527022551234930063735331935544134

161216280329571672636720878*

7%8%11%14%19%18%19%20%21%

2719234160120118128143

4.3%3.0%3.5%6.3%9.2%18.2%17.9%19.8%22.0%

Sources:

Drawn from Election 2010: Where the women

candidates are; a report from the Centre for Women

& Democracy (CFWD, April 2010), p2;Women in

the House of Commons (House of Commons

Information Office, Factsheet M4 Members Series,

Revised June 2010), Appendix B, passim; and the

Herald, 21 April 2010.

* The CFWD put the number of women candidates in 2010 at 877. Itscandidate breakdown lists both Scottish Jacobite candidates asmale. However, Chris Black is female, and she has been added tomake the total tally 878.

9

House ofCommons

Summary of FemaleMPs Elected, 20102010

Party EnglandNorthernIreland Scotland

Alliance (Northern Ireland)ConservativeGreenIndependentLabourLiberal DemocratPlaid Cymru (Wales)Scottish National Party (Scotland)Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland)Social Democratic and Labour Party(Northern Ireland)

Total

n/a4810646n/an/an/an/a

119

1n/a01n/an/an/an/a11

4

n/a000111n/a1n/an/a

13

Source:

Drawn from Women in the House of Commons

(House of Commons Information Office, Factsheet

M4 Members Series, Revised June 2010),

Appendix B, passim.

Wales

UnitedKingdom

(total)

n/a000610n/an/an/a

7

148118180111

143

1. Constance, Countess MARKIEVICZ SF Dublin, St Patrick's(Did not take seat)

1918-22

2. Nancy, Viscountess ASTOR, CH Con Plymouth, Sutton 1919*-453. Mrs Margaret WINTRINGHAM Lib Lincolnshire, Louth 1921*-24

4. Mrs Mabel PHILIPSON Con Berwick-upon-Tweed 1923*-295. Katherine, Duchess of ATHOLL, DBE Con Perth & Kinross;

Kinross & Western1923-38

6. Rt Hon Margaret BONDFIELD, CH(First woman Cabinet Minister)

Lab NorthamptonWallsend

1923-241926*-31

7. Miss Dorothea JEWSON Lab Norwich 1923-248. Miss Arabella Susan LAWRENCE Lab East Ham, North 1923-24;

1926*-319. Lady Vera TERRINGTON Lib Buckinghamshire, Wycombe 1923-2410. Rt Hon Ellen WILKINSON Lab Middlesbrough East

Jarrow1924*-311935-47

11. Gwendolen, Countess of IVEAGH, CBE Con Southend-on-Sea 1927*-3512. Hilda RUNCIMAN (later Viscountess) Lib Cornwall, St Ives 1928*-2913. Mrs Florence DALTON Lab Durham,Bishop Auckland 1929*14. Rt Hon Miss Jennie LEE (Mrs A Bevan) Lab Lanarkshire, Northern

Staffordshire, Cannock1929*-311945-70

15. Dr Ethel BENTHAM Lab Islington, East 1929-3116. Mrs Mary HAMILTON, CBE Lab Blackburn 1929-3117. Lady Megan LLOYD GEORGE Lib

LabAngleseyCarmarthen

1929-511957*-66

18. Lady Cynthia MOSLEY Lab Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke 1929-3119. Dr Marion PHILLIPS Lab Sunderland 1929-3120. Miss Edith PICTON-TURBERVILL, OBE Lab Shropshire, The Wrekin 1929-3121. Miss Eleanor RATHBONE Ind Combined English

Universities1929-46

22. Lady Lucy NOEL-BUXTON Lab Norfolk, NorthNorwich

1930*-311945-50

10

House ofCommons

Former Female Members ofParliament (MPs) 1918 - 2010220 FORMER FEMALE MPs. THE PARTY BREAKDOWN IS: 56

CONSERVATIVE; 1 DEMOCRATIC UNIONIST; 1 INDEPENDENT; 1

INDEPENDENT LABOUR; 1 INDEPENDENT UNITY; 138 LABOUR;

5 LIBERAL; 10 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT; 2 SOCIAL DEMOCRAT

PARTY; 1 SINN FÉIN; 5 SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY; AND 2

ULSTER UNIONIST. THREE MPs REPRESENTED TWO

DIFFERENT PARTIES DURING THEIR CAREER – MEGAN LLOYD

GEORGE WAS A LIBERAL MP AND LATER ELECTED AS A

LABOUR MP; SHIRLEY WILLIAMS WAS A LABOUR MP AND

LATER ELECTED FOR THE SDP; AND CLARE SHORT WAS A

LABOUR MP AND LATTERLY SAT AS AN INDEPENDENT

LABOUR MP.

Name Party Constituency Dates as MP

1111

23. Mrs Leah MANNING Lab IslingtonEast Essex, Epping

1931*1945-50

24. Mrs Thelma CAZALET-KEIR, CBE Con Islington, East 1931-4525. Mrs Ida COPELAND Con Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke 1931-3526. Miss Marjorie GRAVES Con Hackney, South 1931-3527. Rt Hon Miss Florence HORSBURGH

(First woman to move the Address inreply to the King's speech)

Con DundeeManchester, Moss-Side

1931-451950-59

28. The Hon Mary PICKFORD, CBE Con Hammersmith, North 1931-3429. Mrs Norah RUNGE, OBE Con Bermondsey, Rotherhithe 1931-3530. Mrs Helen SHAW, MBE Con Lanarkshire, Bothwell 1931-3531. Mrs Mavis TATE Con Willesden, West Somerset,

Frome1931-45

32. Dame Irene WARD, CH Con WallsendTynemouth

1931-451950-74

33. Mrs Sarah WARD Con Staffordshire, Cannock 1931-3534. Frances, Viscountess DAVIDSON Con Hertfordshire, Hemel

Hempstead1937*-59

35. Mrs Agnes HARDIE Lab Glasgow, Springburn 1937*-4536. Mrs Jennie ADAMSON Lab Dartford 1938*-45

1945-4637. Rt Hon Dr Edith SUMMERSKILL, CH Lab Fulham

West Warrington1938*-611955-61

38. Mrs Beatrice WRIGHT Con Cornwall, Bodmin 1941*-4539. Lady Violet APSLEY, CBE Con Bristol, Central 1943*-4540. Rt Hon Alice BACON, CBE Lab Leeds, North East

Leeds, South East1945-701955-70

41. Mrs Bessie BRADDOCK Lab Liverpool, Exchange 1945-7042. Rt Hon Barbara CASTLE Lab Blackburn 1945-7943. Miss Grace COLMAN Lab Tynemouth 1945-5044. Mrs Freda CORBET Lab Camberwell, North-West

Camberwell, Peckham1945-501950-74

45. Mrs Caroline GANLEY Lab Battersea, South 1945-5146. Mrs Barbara GOULD Lab Hendon, North 1945-5047. Rt Hon Mrs Margaret HERBISON Lab Lanarkshire, North 1945-7048. Mrs Jean MANN Lab Lanarkshire, Coatbridge 1945-5949. Mrs Lucy MIDDLETON Lab Plymouth, Sutton 1945-5150. Mrs Muriel NICHOL Lab Bradford, North 1945-5051. Mrs Florence PATON Lab Nottinghamshire, Rushcliffe 1945-5052. Mrs Mabel RIDEALGH Lab Ilford, North 1945-5053. Mrs Clarice SHAW Lab Ayrshire & Bute, Kilmarnock 1945-4654. Mrs Edith WILLS Lab Birmingham, Duddeston 1945-5055. Priscilla, Lady TWEEDSMUIR

(as Lady Grant of Monymusk to 1948)Con Aberdeen, South 1946*-66

56. Mrs Alice CULLEN Lab Glasgow, Gorbals 1948*-6957. Miss Elaine BURTON Lab Coventry, South 1950-5958. Mrs Eveline HILL Con Manchester, Wythenshawe 1950-6459. Rt Hon Dame Patricia HORNSBY- SMITH,

DBECon Kent, Chislehurst 1950-66

1970-7460. Mrs Dorothy REES Lab Glamorgan, Barry 1950-5161. Mrs Eirene WHITE Lab Flintshire, East 1950-7062. Mrs Harriet SLATER (First woman Whip) Lab Stoke-on-Trent, North 1953*-66

12

63. Mrs Patricia FORD UUP Down, North 1953*-5564. Dame Edith PITT, DBE Con Birmingham, Edgbaston 1953*-6665. Mrs Lena JEGER Lab Holborn & St Pancras,

South1953*-591964-79

66. Mrs Joyce BUTLER Lab Wood Green 1955-7967. The Hon Mrs Evelyn EMMET Con East Sussex, East Grinstead 1955-6468. Mrs Patricia McLAUGHLIN UUP Belfast, West 1955-6469. Dame Joan VICKERS, DBE Con Plymouth, Devonport 1955-7470. Miss Mervyn PIKE Con Leicestershire, Melton 1956*-7471. Lady Muriel GAMMANS Con Hornsey 1957*-6672. Mrs Mary McALISTAIR Lab Glasgow, Kelvingrove 1958*-5973. Rt Hon Betty HARVIE ANDERSON OBE, TD Con Renfrewshire, East 1959-7974. Rt Hon Dame Judith HART, DBE Lab Lanark

Clydesdale1959-831983-87

75. Rt Hon Margaret THATCHER(First woman Prime Minister)

Con Finchley 1959-92

76. Miss Joan QUENNELL Con Petersfield 1960*-7477. Mrs Anne KERR Lab Rochester & Chatham 1964-7078. Mrs Margaret McKAY Lab Wandsworth, Clapham 1964-7079. Mrs Renee SHORT Lab Wolverhampton, North-East 1964-8780. Dr the Hon Shirley SUMMERSKILL Lab Halifax 1964-8381. Rt Hon Shirley WILLIAMS Lab

SDP

Hertfordshire, Hitchin;Hertford & StevenageCrosby

1964-741974-791981*-83

82. Mrs Gwyneth DUNWOODY Lab ExeterCreweCrewe & Nantwich

1966-701974-831983-2008

83. Dame Jill KNIGHT, DBE Con Birmingham, Edgbaston 1966-9784. Miss Joan LESTOR Lab Eton & Slough

Eccles1966-831987-97

85. Mrs Winifred EWING SNP Lanarkshire, HamiltonMoray & Nairn

1967*-701974-79

86. Miss Bernadette DEVLIN(Youngest woman MP at 21 yrs)

Ind Unity Mid-Ulster 1969*-74

87. Dame Peggy FENNER, DBE Con Rochester & ChathamMedway

1970-741983-97

88. Mrs Doris FISHER Lab Birmingham, Ladywood 1970-7489. Dame Janet FOOKES, DBE (Second

Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means)Con Merton & Morden

Plymouth, Drake1970-Feb 1974Feb 1974-97

90. Miss Joan HALL Con Keighley 1970-7491. Miss Mary HOLT Con Preston, North 1970-7492. Dame Elaine KELLETT-BOWMAN DBE Con Lancaster 1970-9793. Mrs Constance MONKS Con Chorley 1970-7494. Rt Hon Sally OPPENHEIM Con Gloucester 1970-8795. Rt Hon Betty BOOTHROYD

(First woman Speaker)Lab West Bromwich 1973*-2000

96. Mrs Margo MACDONALD SNP Glasgow, Govan 1973*-7497. Rt Hon Lynda CHALKER Con Wallasey Feb 1974-9298. Mrs Maureen COLQUHOUN Lab Northampton, North Feb 1974-7999. Jo RICHARDSON Lab Barking Feb 1974-94100.Audrey WISE Lab Coventry, South-West

PrestonFeb 1974-791987-2000

13

101. Mrs Margaret BAIN (later Mrs EWING) SNP Dunbartonshire,East Moray

Oct 1974-791987-2001

102. Mrs Helene HAYMAN Lab Welwyn & Hatfield Oct 1974-79103. Miss Joan MAYNARD Lab Sheffield, Brightside Oct 1974-87104. Mrs Millie MILLER Lab Ilford North Oct 1974-77105. Rt Hon Ann TAYLOR

(First woman Chief Whip)Lab Bolton, West

DewsburyOct 1974-831987-2005

106. Dr Oonagh McDONALD Lab Thurrock 1976*-87107. Mrs Sheila FAITH Con Belper 1979-83108. Miss Sheila WRIGHT Lab Birmingham, Handsworth 1979-83109. Dame Angela RUMBOLD, DBE Con Mitcham and Morden 1982*-97110. Mrs Helen McELHONE Lab Glasgow, Queen's Park 1982*-83111. Mrs Edwina CURRIE Con South Derbyshire 1983-97112. Mrs Anna McCURLEY Con Renfrew West & Inverclyde 1983-87113. Mrs Elizabeth PEACOCK Con Batley & Spen 1983-97114. Mrs Marion ROE Con Broxbourne 1983-2005115. Rt Hon Clare SHORT Lab

Ind LabBirmingham, Ladywood 1983-2006

2006-10116. Mrs Ann WINTERTON Con Congleton 1983-2010117. Rt Hon Virginia BOTTOMLEY Con South West Surrey 1984*-2005118. Mrs Elizabeth SHIELDS Lib Ryedale 1986*-87119. Mrs Llin GOLDING Lab Newcastle-under-Lyme 1986*-2001120. Mrs Rosie BARNES SDP Greenwich 1987*-92121. Rt Hon Hilary ARMSTRONG Lab North West Durham 1987-2010122. Mrs Maria FYFE Lab Glasgow, Maryhill 1987-2001123. Mrs Mildred GORDON Lab Bow & Poplar 1987-97124. Mrs Teresa GORMAN Con Billericay 1987-2001125. Mrs Maureen HICKS Con Wolverhampton, North East 1987-92126. Mrs Alice MAHON Lab Halifax 1987-2005127. Mrs Ray MICHIE LD Argyll & Bute 1987-2001128. Rt Hon Marjorie MOWLAM Lab Redcar 1987-2001129. Emma NICHOLSON Con Devon, West & Torridge 1987-97130. Rt Hon Joyce QUIN Lab Gateshead, East

Gateshead East &Washington West

1987-971997-2005

131. Rt Hon Gillian SHEPHARD Con South West Norfolk 1987-2005132. Rt Hon Ann WIDDECOMBE Con Maidstone; Maidstone & the

Weald1987-2010

133. Mrs Sylvia HEAL Lab Mid-StaffordshireHalesowen & Rowley Regis

1990*-921997-2010

134. Irene ADAMS Lab Paisley North 1990*-2005135. Janet ANDERSON Lab Rossendale & Darwen 1992-2010136. Mrs Angela BROWNING Con Tiverton

Tiverton & Honiton1992-971997-2010

137. Mrs Anne CAMPBELL Lab Cambridge 1992-2005138. Mrs Judith CHAPLIN Con Newbury 1992-93139. Hon Jean CORSTON Lab Bristol East 1992-2005140. Helen JACKSON Lab Sheffield, Hillsborough 1992-2005141. Dr Lynne JONES Lab Birmingham, Selly Oak 1992-2010142. Jane KENNEDY Lab Liverpool Wavertree 1992-2010143. Mrs Angela KNIGHT Con Erewash 1992-97

14

144. Mrs Jacqui Lait Con Hastings and RyeBeckenham

1992-971997*-2010

145. Ms Liz LYNNE LD Rochdale 1992-97146. Lady Olga MAITLAND Con Sutton & Cheam 1992-97147. Rt Hon Estelle MORRIS Lab Birmingham, Yardley 1992-2005148. Ms Bridget PRENTICE Lab Lewisham East 1992-2010149. Mrs Barbara ROCHE Lab Hornsey & Wood Green 1992-2005150. Ms Rachel SQUIRE Lab Dunfermline West 1992-2006151. Mrs Diana MADDOCK LD Christchurch 1993*-97152. Ms Judith CHURCH Lab Dagenham 1994*-2001153. Mrs Helen LIDDELL Lab Monklands East

Airdrie & Shotts1994*-971997-2005

154. Ms Roseanna CUNNINGHAM SNP Perth & KinrossPerth

1995*-971997-2001

155. Ms Candy ATHERTON Lab Falmouth & Camborne 1997-2005156. Ms Charlotte ATKINS Lab Staffordshire Moorlands 1997-2010157. Mrs Jackie BALLARD LD Taunton 1997-2001158. Mrs Liz BLACKMAN Lab Erewash 1997-2010159. Mrs Helen BRINTON

(Later Mrs Helen Clark)Lab Peterborough 1997-2005

160. Mrs Christine BUTLER Lab Castle Point 1997-2001161. Dr Lynda CLARK, QC Lab Edinburgh, Pentlands 1997-2005162. Mrs Ann CRYER Lab Keighley 1997-2010163. Ms Claire CURTIS-THOMAS Lab Crosby 1997-2010164. Valerie DAVEY Lab Bristol West 1997-2005165. Mrs Janet DEAN Lab Burton 1997-2010166. Julia DROWN Lab South Swindon 1997-2005167. Ms Lorna FITZSIMONS Lab Rochdale 1997-2005168. Ms Barbara FOLLETT Lab Stevenage 1997-2010169. Mrs Linda GILROY Lab Plymouth Sutton 1997-2010170. Eileen GORDON Lab Romford 1997-2001171. Jane GRIFFITHS Lab Reading East 1997-2005172. Rt Hon Patricia HEWITT Lab Leicester West 1997-2010173. Ms Beverley HUGHES Lab Stretford & Urmston 1997-2010174. Mrs Joan HUMBLE Lab Blackpool North & Fleetwood1997-2010175. Miss Melanie JOHNSON Lab Welwyn Hatfield 1997-2005176. Mrs Fiona JONES Lab Newark 1997-2001177. Ms Jenny JONES Lab Wolverhampton South West 1997-2001178. Ms Sally KEEBLE Lab Northampton North 1997-2010179. Ann KEEN Lab Brentford & Isleworth 1997-2010180. Ms Ruth KELLY Lab Bolton West 1997-2010181. Ms Oona KING Lab Bethnal Green & Bow 1997-2005182. Ms Tess KINGHAM Lab Gloucester 1997-2001183. Miss Julie KIRKBRIDE Con Bromsgrove 1997-2010184. Ms Jackie LAWRENCE Lab Preseli Pembrokeshire 1997-2005185. Judy MALLABER Lab Amber Valley 1997-2010186. Ms Chris McCAFFERTY Lab Calder Valley 1997-2010187. Shona McISAAC Lab Cleethorpes 1997-2010188. Mrs Rosemary McKENNA, CBE Lab Cumbernauld & Kilsyth 1997-2010189. Ms Gillian MERRON Lab Lincoln 1997-2010190. Laura MOFFATT Lab Crawley 1997-2010191. Ms Margaret MORAN Lab Luton South 1997-2010

15

192. Ms Julie MORGAN Lab Cardiff North 1997-2010193. Ms Kali MOUNTFORD Lab Colne Valley 1997-2010194. Mrs Diana ORGAN Lab Forest of Dean 1997-2005195. Ms Linda PERHAM Lab Ilford North 1997-2005196. Christine RUSSELL Lab Chester, City of 1997-2010197. Joan RYAN Lab Enfield North 1997-2010198. Ms Debra SHIPLEY Lab Stourbridge 1997-2005199. Rt Hon Angela E SMITH Lab Basildon 1997-2010200. Miss Geraldine SMITH Lab Morecambe & Lunesdale 1997-2010201. Ms Jacqui SMITH Lab Redditch 1997-2010202. Ms Helen SOUTHWORTH Lab Warrington South 1997-2010203. Dr Phyllis STARKEY Lab Milton Keynes South West 1997-2010204. Ms Dari TAYLOR Lab Stockton South 1997-2010205. Dr Jenny TONGE LD Richmond Park 1997-2005206. Ms Claire WARD Lab Watford 1997-2010207. Mrs Betty WILLIAMS Lab Conwy 1997-2010208. Sandra GIDLEY LD Romsey 2000*-10209. Vera BAIRD Lab Redcar 2001-10210. Patsy CALTON LD Cheadle 2001-05211. Sue DOUGHTY LD Guildford 2001-05212. Annabelle EWING SNP Perth 2001-05213. Anne PICKING

(as Anne MOFFAT from 2005)Lab East Lothian 2001-10

214. Iris ROBINSON DUP Strangford 2001-10215. Julia GOLDSWORTHY LD Falmouth & Camborne 2005-10216. Susan KRAMER LD Richmond Park 2005-10217. Sarah McCARTHY-FRY Lab Portsmouth North 2005-10218. Anne SNELGROVE Lab South Swindon 2005-10219. Kitty USSHER Lab Burnley 2005-10220. Lynda WALTHO Lab Stourbridge 2005-10

Source:




Appendix B, passim.

* indicates elected at a by-election

16

House ofCommons

Female MPs elected,England 2010119 OF 533 MPs (48 CONSERVATIVE; 1 GREEN;

64 LABOUR; AND 6 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT)


1. Miss Margaret JACKSON(later Mrs BECKETT, then Rt Hon Margaret BECKETT)

Lab LincolnDerby South

October 1974-791983-

2. Rt Hon Harriet HARMAN Lab Peckham 28 October 1982*-3. Miss Diane ABBOTT Lab Hackney North

& Stoke Newington1987-

4. Dawn PRIMAROLO Lab Bristol South 1987-5. Joan RUDDOCK Lab Lewisham Deptford 1987-6. Ms Joan WALLEY Lab Stoke-on-Trent North 1987-7. Miss Kate HOEY Lab Vauxhall 15 June 1989*-8. Ms Ann COFFEY Lab Stockport 1992-9. Angela EAGLE Lab Wallasey 1992-10. Mrs Cheryl GILLAN Con Chesham & Amersham 1992-11. Ms Glenda JACKSON Lab Hampstead & Highgate 1992-12. Rt Hon Tessa JOWELL Lab Dulwich 1992-7

Dulwich & West Norwood 1997-13. Rt Hon Margaret HODGE Lab Barking 9 June 1994*-14. Ms Hazel BLEARS Lab Salford 1997-2010

Salford & Eccles 2010-15. Ms Karen BUCK Lab Regent's Park & 1997-

Kensington North16. Yvette COOPER Lab Pontefract & Castleford 1997-17. Maria EAGLE Lab Liverpool Garston 1997-18. Mrs Louise ELLMAN Lab Liverpool Riverside 1997-19. Caroline FLINT Lab Don Valley 1997-20. Helen JONES Lab Warrington North 1997-21. Mrs Eleanor LAING Con Epping Forest 1997-22. Fiona MACTAGGART Lab Slough 1997-23. Mrs Theresa MAY Con Maidenhead 1997-24. Ms Siobhain McDONAGH Lab Mitcham & Morden 1997-25. Anne McINTOSH Con Vale of York

Thirsk & Malton1997-20102010-

17

26. Mrs Caroline SPELMAN Con Meriden 1997-27. Ms Gisela STUART Lab Birmingham Edgbaston 1997-28. Ms Rosie WINTERTON Lab Doncaster Central 1997-29. Annette BROOKE LD Mid Dorset & North Poole 2001-30. Meg MUNN Lab Sheffield Heeley 2001-31. Angela WATKINSON Con Upminster 2001-32. Sarah TEATHER LD Brent East

Brent Central

18 September2003*-20102010-

33. Roberta BLACKMAN-WOODS Lab City of Durham 2005-34. Lyn BROWN Lab West Ham 2005-35. Lorely BURT LD Solihull 2005-36. Rosie COOPER Lab West Lancashire 2005-37. Mary CREAGH Lab Wakefield 2005-38. Nadine DORRIES Con Mid Bedfordshire 2005-39. Natascha ENGEL Lab North East Derbyshire 2005-40. Lynne FEATHERSTONE LD Hornsey & Wood Green 2005-41. Helen GOODMAN Lab Bishop Auckland 2005-42. Justine GREENING Con Putney 2005-43. Meg HILLIER Lab Hackney South

& Shoreditch2005-

44. Sharon HODGSON Lab Gateshead East &Washington West

2005-

45. Diana R JOHNSON Lab Kingston upon Hull North 2005-46. Barbara KEELEY Lab Worsley 2005-47. Anne MAIN Con St Albans 2005-48. Kerry MCCARTHY Lab Bristol East 2005 -49. Maria MILLER Con Basingstoke 2005-50. Anne MILTON Con Guildford 2005-51. Linda RIORDAN Lab Halifax 2005-52. Alison SEABECK Lab Plymouth Devonport 2005-53. Angela C SMITH Lab Sheffield Hillsborough

Penistone & Stocksbridge2005-20102010-

54. Emily THORNBERRY Lab Islington South & Finsbury 2005-55. Theresa VILLIERS Con Chipping Barnet 2005-56. Chloe SMITH LD Norwich North 23 July 2009*-57. Heidi ALEXANDER Lab Lewisham East 2010-58. Rushanara ALI Lab Bethnal Green & Bow 2010-59. Ms Louise BAGSHAWE Con Corby 2010-60. Harriett BALDWIN Con West Worcestershire 2010-61. Luciana BERGER Lab/

Co-opLiverpool Wavertree 2010-

62. Nicola BLACKWOOD Con Oxford West & Abingdon 2010-

63. Karen BRADLEY Con Staffordshire Moorlands 2010-64. Angie BRAY Con Ealing Central & Acton 2010-65. Fiona BRUCE Con Congleton 2010-66. Mrs Jenny CHAPMAN Lab Darlington 2010-67. Dr Thérèse COFFEY Con Suffolk Coastal 2010-68. Stella CREASY Lab/

Co-opWalthamstow 2010-

18

69. Tracey CROUCH Con Chatham & Aylesford 2010-70. Gloria DE PIERO Lab Ashfield 2010-71. Caroline DINEAGE Con Gosport 2010-72. Jackie DOYLE-PRICE Con Thurrock 2010-73. Julie ELLIOTT Lab Sunderland Central 2010-74. Jane ELLISON Con Battersea 2010-75. Yvonne FOVARGUE Lab Makerfield 2010-76. Lorraine FULLBROOK Con South Ribble 2010-77. Pat GLASS Lab North West Durham 2010-78. Mrs Mary GLINDON Lab North Tyneside 2010-

79. Mrs Helen GRANT Con Maidstone & The Weald 2010-80. Kate GREEN Lab Stretford & Urmston 2010-81. Lilian GREENWOOD Lab Nottingham South 2010-82. Rebecca HARRIS Con Castle Point 2010-83. Julie HILLING Lab Bolton West 2010-84. Margot JAMES Con Stourbridge 2010-85. Liz KENDALL Lab Leicester West 2010-86. Pauline LATHAM Con Mid Derbyshire 2010-

87. Andrea LEADSOM Con South Northamptonshire 2010-88. Jessica LEE Con Erewash 2010-89. Charlotte LESLIE Con Bristol North West 2010-90. Caroline LUCAS Green Brighton Pavilion 2010-91. Karen LUMLEY Con Redditch 2010-92. Mary MACLEOD Con Brentford & Isleworth 2010-93. Shabana MAHMOOD Lab Birmingham Ladywood 2010-94. Alison MCGOVERN Lab Wirral South 2010-95. Catherine MCKINNELL Lab Newcastle upon Tyne North 2010-96. Esther MCVEY Con Wirral West 2010-97. Penny MORDAUNT Con Portsmouth North 2010-98. Nicky MORGAN Con Loughborough 2010-99. Anne Marie MORRIS Con Newton Abbot 2010-100.Tessa MUNT LD Wells 2010-101.Sheryll MURRAY Con South East Cornwall 2010-102.Lisa NANDY Lab Wigan 2010-103.Sarah NEWTON Con Truro & Falmouth 2010-104.Caroline NOKES Con Romsey & Southampton

North2010-

105.Chi ONWURAH Lab Newcastle upon Tyne Central 2010-106.Priti PATEL Con Witham 2010-107.Teresa PEARCE Lab Erith & Thamesmead 2010-108.Claire PERRY Con Devizes 2010-109.Bridget PHILLIPSON Lab Houghton & Sunderland

South2010-

110.Yasmin QURESHI Lab Bolton South East 2010-111.Rachel REEVES Lab Leeds West 2010-112.Emma REYNOLDS Lab Wolverhampton North East 2010-113.Amber RUDD Con Hastings & Rye 2010-114.Laura SANDYS Con South Thanet 2010-115.Anna SOUBRY Con Broxtowe 2010-116.Elizabeth TRUSS Con South West Norfolk 2010-

19

117.Valerie VAZ Lab Walsall South 2010-118.Heather WHEELER Con South Derbyshire 2010-119.Dr Sarah WOLLASTON Con Totnes 2010-

Source:




Appendix B, passim.

20

House ofCommons

Female MPs elected,Northern Ireland 20104 OF 18 MPs (1 ALLIANCE; 1 INDEPENDENT; 1 SINN FÉIN;

AND 1 SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY)


1. Michelle GILDERNEW SF Fermanagh & South Tyrone 2001-2. Sylvia HERMON UU

IndNorth Down 2001-2010

2010-3. Naomi LONG Alliance Belfast East 2010-4. Ms Margaret RITCHIE SDLP South Down 2010-

Source:




Appendix B, passim.


21

House ofCommons

Female MPs elected,Scotland 201013 OF 59 MPs (11 LABOUR; 1 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT;

AND 1 SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY)


1. Miss Anne BEGG Lab Aberdeen South 1997-2. Mrs Anne McGUIRE Lab Stirling 1997-3. Ms Sandra OSBORNE Lab Ayr 1997-4. Ann McKECHIN Lab Glasgow Maryhill 2001-5. Katy CLARK Lab North Ayrshire & Arran 2005-6. Jo SWINSON LD East Dunbartonshire 2005-7. Margaret CURRAN Lab Glasgow East 2010-8. Gemma DOYLE Lab/Co-op West Dunbartonshire 2010-9. Sheila GILMORE Lab Edinburgh East 2010-10. Cathy JAMIESON Lab/Co-op Kilmarnock & Loudoun 2010-11. Pamela NASH Lab Airdrie & Shotts 2010-12. Fiona O’DONNELL Lab East Lothian 2010-13. Dr Eilidh WHITEFORD SNP Banff & Buchan 2010-

Source:




Appendix B, passim.


22

House ofCommons

Female MPs elected,Wales 20107 OF 40 MPs (6 LABOUR; AND 1 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT)


1. Ann CLWYD Lab Cynon Valley 3 May 1984*-2. Nia GRIFFITH Lab Llanlli 2005-3. Sian C JAMES Lab Swansea East 2005-4. Madeleine MOON Lab Bridgend 2005-5. Jessica MORDEN Lab Newport East 2005-6. Jenny WILLOTT LD Cardiff Central 2005-7. Susan Elan JONES Lab Clwyd South 2010-

Source:




Appendix B, passim.


23

Writing in 2004, historian Deirdre Beddoe

marvelled:

“We should let it sink in that Wales – a country which

throughout the twentieth century had a truly

appalling record of female representation – now tops

the world league table with 50 per cent of women in

our National Assembly. The Assembly Government

Cabinet has a majority of female members. There

has been a revolution in Welsh politics.”

Wales did indeed have an appalling record of

female representation. From 1918-97 only four

women had represented Welsh seats at

Westminster. Lady Megan Lloyd George

represented Anglesey as a left-leaning Liberal from

1929-51 and Carmarthen as a Labour MP from

1957-66. Dorothy Rees sat briefly for Glamorgan

Barry from 1950-1 and Eirene White represented

East Flintshire from 1950-70. There were no Welsh

women MPs at all from 1970 until Ann Clywd’s

election at the 1984 Cynon Valley by-election.

From 1918 to 2010 thirteen women have taken up

Welsh seats in the House of Commons. Eleven

have represented the Labour Party (reflecting the

party’s historical domination of post-1945 Wales),

with Megan Lloyd George representing both the

Liberal and Labour parties, and one Liberal

Democrat. Nine of the thirteen have been elected

since 1997; three being elected for the first time in

1997; five in 2005; and one in 2010 with the

increases closely linked to Labour’s use of all-

women shortlists. However, Wales still lags behind

the UK average of 22 per cent female represen-

tation at Westminster.

Representation at the European Parliament proved

an early exception to a male-dominated norm with

two of the four Welsh seats won by women at the

first European election in 1979. Glenys Kinnock

and Eluned Morgan were Welsh Labour MEPs

from 1994-2009. The election of Plaid MEP Jill

Evans in 1999 gave women three of the four Welsh

seats from 1999-2009. Although both Kinnock and

Morgan stood down and Labour lost one of its

Welsh seats at the 2009 European elections,

Wales still has two female MEPs, Jill Evans, and

the Conservative, Kay Swinburne.

Dramatic change was most conspicuous within

the National Assembly set up in 1999 following the

1997 devolution referendums in Scotland and

Wales. More ambivalent attitudes to devolution in

Wales than in Scotland limited the scope of the

initial devolution settlement for Wales whilst

developments in Wales were influenced by those

in Scotland such as the demand for equal

representation in a future Scottish Parliament.

Recent studies have highlighted the role played by

“approximately 25 influential women activists

(gender experts, femocrats, politicians and trade

union officials)” who pressed gender equality

claims upon the Welsh Labour Party, the

Campaign for a Welsh Assembly (renamed the

“Overnight – the night of 11th-12th May 1999 – the politicalprofile of Wales changeddramatically.”DEIRDRE BEDDOE

National Assemblyof Wales

24

Parliament for Wales Campaign in 1993), and the

Equal Opportunities Commission. The devolution

White Paper for Wales asserted that “greater

participation by women is essential to the health

of our democracy.”

As in Scotland the Labour Party adopted the

combination of “twinning” within constituency

seats and “zipping” regional lists in its candidate

selection procedures. This gave women the

majority of Welsh Labour Assembly seats in 1999,

and at each subsequent Assembly election.

Although women members failed to win a

“twinning” arrangement within the constituencies,

Plaid Cymru “zipped” its regional lists. In 1999 six

Plaid women were elected, two from

constituencies and four from the lists, amounting

to just over a third of Plaid representation.

Although the Liberal Democrats did not use any

special measures, three of the six Liberal

Democrats elected were female. The Conser-

vatives described their selection procedure as

based “strictly on merit” and did not get any

women elected. The 1999 Assembly election

returned 24 female Assembly Members (AMs) out

of 60, 40 per cent. This was an overnight

revolution in Welsh political representation.

At subsequent Assembly elections the figures rose

to 50 per cent in 2003 and fell to 46.7 per cent in

2007. Welsh Labour has consistently returned the

highest proportion of female AMs - 15 of 24 women

elected in 1999 (62.5 per cent); 19 of 30 in 2003

(63.3 per cent); and 16 of 28 in 2007 (57.1 per cent)

in 2007. Plaid’s female representation has also been

high – 6 of 24 in 1999 (25 per cent); 6 of 30 (20 per

cent); and 7 of 28 (25 per cent). Meanwhile the

Liberal Democrats returned three women out of six

AMs at each Assembly election to date and since

June 2010 the group’s composition is four women

and two men. Kirsty Williams became the leader of

the Welsh Liberal Democrats in December 2008

and the first female leader of any of the four main

Welsh political parties.

The levels of women’s representation in the Welsh

Assembly amount to the highest levels seen in the

United Kingdom to date and are exceptional at an

international level. As Deirde Beddoe said, “Let

this sink in.”

However, there has been a significant backlash

against the positive action measures taken.

Commentators refer to “enduring opposition to

gender equality measures in sections of the two

main left-of-centre parties [Labour and Plaid]” and

outright rejection by the Welsh Conservatives. For

instance, at the 2001 general election ten sitting

Welsh MPs stood down – seven Labour, one

Liberal and two Plaid – but male candidates were

selected and elected in all ten constituencies.

At the 2005 general election Labour AM Peter Law

left the party and stood as an Independent in

protest against Labour’s decision to impose an all-

women shortlist in Blaenau Gwent. Standing on an

anti-all women shortlist ticket, he overturned a

19,000 Labour majority to win the Westminster

seat with a majority of 9,121 votes. Following his

death and the subsequent by-elections for the

Westminster and Assembly seats, his agent Dai

Davies won and held the Westminster seat as an

Independent until 2010. His widow Trish Law

continues to represent Blaenau Gwent in the

Assembly as an Independent AM.

The Institute of Welsh Affairs have now predicted

that the number of women elected might fall as

low as 19 in 2011. Five sitting Labour women AMs

are standing down and it appears that most of the

women selected are not in winnable seats.

Devolution undoubtedly gave a fresh start and

historic boost to women’s representation in Wales

but the 2011 election is likely to underline the need

for renewed efforts to keep women in politics.

25

National Assembly of Wales:Summary of Female AssemblyMembers (AMs) elected1999-2007

WelshAssembly

1999*Numberof women

1999% ofwomen

2003**Numberof women

Conservative 0 0% 2 18.2% 1 8.3%Independent/Other 0 0% 0 0% 1 100%Labour 15 53.6% 19 63.3% 16 61.5%Liberal Democrat 3 50% 3 50% 3 50%Plaid Cymru 6 35.3% 6 50% 7 46.7%TOTAL (of 60 AMs) 24 40% 30 50% 28 46.7%

Source:

http://www.assemblywales.org

Notes:

* After the resignation of Labour AM Alun Michael in May 2000,Delyth Evans took over his seat. The Assembly’s gendercomposition changed to 35 men and 25 women.

** Peter Law was elected as Labour but sat as an Independentfrom May 2005. Following his death and the subsequent by-election in July 2006, his widow Trish Law sat as anIndependent. The Assembly’s gender composition changedto 29 men and 31 women.

*** As the next candidate on the Liberal Democrat South WalesEast list, Veronica German replaced her husband MichaelGerman as AM in June 2010 on his appointment to theHouse of Lords in May 2010. The Assembly’s gendercomposition changed to 31 men and 29 women.


2007***Numberof women

2003% ofwomen

2007% ofwomen

26

Current Female AssemblyMembers (AMs) 2010

29 OF 60 AMs – 1 CONSERVATIVE; 1 INDEPENDENT; 16 LABOUR;

4 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT; AND 7 PLAID CMYRU


Name Party Constituency Dates as AM

1. Angela BURNS Con Carmarthen West& South Pembrokeshire

2007-

2. Trish LAW Ind Blaenau Gwent 29 June 2006*-3. Lorraine BARRETT Lab Cardiff South & Penarth 1999-4. Rosemary BUTLER Lab Newport West 1999-5. Christine CHAPMAN Lab Cynon Valley 1999-6. Jane DAVIDSON Lab Pontypridd 1999-7. Janice GREGORY Lab Ogmore 1999-8. Edwina HART Lab Gower 1999-9. Jane HUTT Lab Vale of Glamorgan 1999-10. Ann JONES Lab Vale of Clwyd 1999-11. Lynne NEAGLE Lab Torfaen 1999-12. Karen SINCLAIR Lab Clwyd South 1999-13. Gwenda THOMAS Lab Neath 1999-14. Val LLOYD Lab Swansea East 26 September 2001*-15. Irene JAMES Lab Islwyn 2003-16. Sandy MEWIES Lab Delyn 2003-17. Lesley GRIFFITHS Lab Wrexham 2007-18. Joyce WATSON Lab Mid & West Wales list 2007-19. Jenny RANDERSON LD Cardiff Central 1999-20. Kirsty WILLIAMS LD Brecon & Radnorshire 1999-21. Eleanor BURNHAM LD North Wales list 2001-22. Veronica GERMAN LD South Wales East list 2010-23. Jocelyn DAVIES Plaid South Wales East list 1999-24. Elin JONES Plaid Ceredigion 1999-

27

25. Helen Mary JONES Plaid LlanelliMid & West Wales listLlanelli

1999-20032003-72007-

26. Janet RYDER Plaid North Wales list 1999-27. Leanne WOOD Plaid South Wales Central list 2003-28. Nerys EVANS Plaid Mid & West Wales list 2007-29. Bethan JENKINS Plaid South Wales West list 2007-

Source:


28

Former Female AssemblyMembers (AMs) 1999-2010

12 FORMER AMs (2 CONSERVATIVE; 7 LABOUR;

1 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT; AND 2 PLAID CYMRU)



1. Janet DAVIES Plaid South Wales West list 1999-20072. Sue ESSEX Lab Cardiff North 1999-20073. Val FELD Lab Swansea East 1999-20014. Christine GWYTHER Lab Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire 1999-20075. Alison HALFORD Lab Delyn 1999-20036. Christine HUMPHRIES LD North Wales list 1999-20017. Pauline JARMAN Plaid South Wales Central list 1999-20038. Delyth EVANS Lab Mid & West Wales list 2000-039. Tamsin DUNWOODY Lab Preseli Pembrokeshire 2003-0710. Lisa FRANCIS Con Mid & West Wales list 2003-0711. Laura Anne JONES Con South Wales East list 2003-0712. Catherine THOMAS Lab Llanelli 2003-07

Source:


29

Northern Ireland’s devolution route has beentortuous and troubled. The current Northern

Ireland Assembly emerged from the milestoneGood Friday Agreement signed on 10 April 1998.The agreement, boosted by declarations ofpermanent ceasefires by the Irish RepublicanArmy (IRA), and the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force(UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA), wasthe first to receive the firm support of a majority ofboth Nationalist and Unionist parties. It set outprovisions for a new assembly elected underproportional representation with the first Assemblyelections held on 25 June 1998 and subsequentelections in 2003 and 2007.

The Assembly has had a chequered history todate, being suspended in 2002 amid a row overalleged IRA activities. Protracted talks led to theeventual swearing-in of the leaders of the presentpower-sharing government on 8 May 2007, afterthe 2007 Assembly elections and ending five yearsof direct rule from London. Fears that dissidentactivity on either side might undermine the peaceagreement still exist. Nonetheless, the Assembly isthe most successful and stable of a sequence ofattempted assemblies since the Loyalist strikebrought down the first Northern Ireland Assemblyin 1974.

Competing Unionist and Nationalist identities haveshaped Northern Ireland’s politics since the entitywas created by the 1920 Government of IrelandAct. And few women were members of theUnionist-dominated Northern Ireland Parliamentwhich had powers over most areas from 1921 until

its suspension amid the rising violence andtension of the Troubles in 1972. Of the ninewomen elected to Stormont over that period, sixwere Unionist and the other three represented theUniversity constituency in Belfast asIndependents.

Women’s representation was even poorer atWestminster. Northern Ireland has returned onlyeight women MPs from 1921 to the present. Nofemale candidates at all stood during the inter-waryears and only three women were elected duringthe twentieth century. The first two representativeswere Unionist with Pat Ford following her father inNorth Down from 1953-55 while FlorenceMcLaughlin represented West Belfast from 1955-64. Bernadette Devlin’s election in 1969 as anationalist “unity” candidate at the age of 21 wasa bolt from the future. She defeated the formerUnionist MP’s widow in the Mid-Ulster by-electionto become the first non-Unionist woman MP andthe youngest elected in Westminster’s history. Herelection has been perceived as “remarkable” at apoint where rising conflict was strengthening andreinforcing existing gender divisions. For instance,Derry society in the 1970s was vividly describedas an “armed patriarchy” within which Orange andGreen nationalism retained an ultra-conservativeview of women.

“If women were to continue to enter politicsat the current rate, it would take 200 years toreach equality. Therefore, we cannot arguefor voluntary equality measures, because wecannot wait for 200 years. Something firmerthan that is needed.”

LYNN CARVILL, WOMEN’S RESOURCE AND DEVELOPMENTAGENCY (WRDA), GIVING EVIDENCE AT STORMONT, 2010

Northern IrelandAssembly

30

Recent writing has underlined the involvement ofwomen during the Troubles as “accidentalactivists” in challenging or supporting military orparamilitary groups and sustaining family life andprisoner support. This was referred to recently bySocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)member John Dallat:

“The involvement of women in politics is nothingnew; I can think of Baroness Blood, Pat Hume andvarious other women who were involved at theheight of the Troubles. They were the ones whowigged the ears of the paramilitaries and toldthem to wise up, so women do not have to justifytheir right to be in politics.”

The first Assembly elections in 1998 returned 15women (13.9 per cent) whilst 18 were elected atthe 2003 and 2007 elections (16.7 per cent).However, movements of MLAs have cut thecurrent number back to 15 again.

Those elected in 1998 included two represen-tatives of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalitionfounded by Catholic Monica McWilliams andProtestant Pearl Sagar as a non-sectarian party in1996. However, after losing both its MLAs in 2003and its sole council seat in 2005, the party nevercontested another election and was formallywound up in 2006.

Within the Assembly the Nationalist parties havereturned most women members at each election.More than a quarter of Sinn Féin’s deputies havebeen female (five, six and eight at the successiveelections). The SDLP returned three women in1998, five in 2003 and four in 2007 whilst MargaretRitchie was elected party leader in February 2010.The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) returned onewoman in 1998 and three in 2003 and 2007 whilstin January 2010 Arlene Foster became the firstfemale head of government in all of the UKdevolved parliamentary assemblies when she wasappointed as interim First Minister for six weeks.However, the Ulster Unionists returned only onewoman in 1998 and 2003 and none since. TheAlliance returned two women in 2007 and also haswomen in prominent leadership positions. Theirdeputy leader Naomi Long provided one of the

greatest shocks of the 2010 election when shedefeated DUP leader Peter Robinson to winBelfast East. Another woman in a leadership role isDawn Purvis, former leader and sole ProgressiveUnionist Party representative in the Assemblysince 2007. For decades the PUP had closepolitical links to the UVF but Purvis resigned asPUP leader in June 2010 over the UVF murder ofShankill Loyalist Bobby Moffett. She now sits asan Independent MLA.

This representation amounts to an improvementon past levels of women’s representation, apattern repeated at the Westminster level. Thereare currently four Northern Ireland women MPs.Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, the DUP’s IrisRobinson and then Ulster Unionist Sylvia Hermonwere elected in 2001. Robinson resigned in thewake of revelations of an affair in 2010 butGildernew and Hermon remain MPs, Hermon nowas an Independent. In 2010 they were joined byRitchie and Long.

Current discussion on Dawn Purvis’s privatemember’s bill seeking to end the practice of dualmandates in Northern Ireland sheds further lighton attitudes towards women’s representation.Giving evidence at Stormont, Professor RickWilford said that: “The Bill is a trigger ofopportunity to create the space for women inpolitics. It would get rid of dual incumbency, whichis a block to entry.” Briefing at the same session,Lynn Carvill of the Women’s Resource andDevelopment Agency (WRDA) reported that as ofMarch 2010, 67 MLAs in Northern Ireland helddual mandates as local councillors, 88 per cent ofwhom were male. The final outcome of Purvis’s billon dual mandates is not yet known but may opena space for women.

Northern Ireland’s women’s representation still lagsbehind that of Westminster and the devolvedchambers in Scotland and Wales. None of its partiescurrently make use of devices such as all-womenshortlists but it is encouraging to see women inleadership positions and there is mounting pressureto increase women’s representation.

31

Summary of Female Membersof the Legislative Assembly(MLAs) elected

1998-2007


NorthernIrelandAssembly

1998Numberof women

1998% ofwomen

2003*Numberof women

Alliance 1 20% 2 33.3% 2 28.6%Democratic Unionist Party 1 4.8% 3 9.4% 3 8.3%Green Party 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%Independent 1 100% 1 25% 0 0%Independent Health Coalition 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%Independent Unionist 1 100% 0 0% 0 0%Northern IrelandWomen’s Coalition

2 100% 0 0% 0 0%

Progressive Unionist Party 0 0% 0 0% 1 100%Sinn Féin 5 27.8% 6 27.3% 8 28.6%Social Democratic andLabour Party

3 14.3% 5 29.4% 4 25%

Ulster Unionist Party 1 3.6% 1 4% 0 0%TOTAL (of 108 MLAs) 15 13.9% 18 16.7% 18 16.7%


2003% ofwomen

2007% ofwomen

Notes:

* Norah Beare was elected as a UUP candidate and became a member of the DUP with effect from 15 January 2004. Mrs Mary Nelisresigned from the Northern Ireland Assembly and was replaced by Mr Raymond McCartney whose appointment was notified by theChief Electoral Officer with effect from 15 July 2004. Ms Bairbre de Brun resigned from the Northern Ireland Assembly with effectfrom 27 October 2004 and was replaced by Ms Sue Ramsey whose appointment was notified by the Chief Electoral Officer witheffect from 29 November 2004. Ms Patricia Lewsley resigned from the Northern Ireland Assembly with effect from 19 December 2006and was replaced by Ms Marietta Farrell whose appointment was notified by the Chief Electoral Officer with effect from 9 January2007. Mr David Ervine died on the 8 January 2007 and was replaced by Ms Dawn Purvis, whose appointment was notified by theChief Electoral Officer with effect from 24 January 2007. The gender composition of the Assembly remained unchanged.

** Mrs Iris Robinson resigned with effect from 12 January 2010 and was replaced by Mr Jonathan Bell, whose appointment wasnotified by the Chief Electoral Officer with effect from 25 January 2010. Mrs Carmel Hanna resigned with effect from 15 January2010 and was replaced by Mr Conall McDevitt whose appointment was notified by the Chief Electoral Officer with effect from 21January 2010. Dawn Purvis, elected as a PUP candidate, became an Independent member with effect from 3 June 2010. Mr ChrisLyttle MLA was returned as the new Member for East Belfast constituency with effect from 5 July 2010 replacing Mrs Naomi Long,elected as MP for Belfast East. The gender composition of the Assembly changed to 93 men and 15 women.

Source:

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/mems_archive_1.htm

32

Source:

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/membership07.htm

Current Female Members of theLegislative Assembly (MLAs) 2010

15 OF 108 MLAs (1 ALLIANCE; 2 DEMOCRATIC UNIONISTPARTY; 1 PROGRESSIVE UNIONIST PARTY (INDEPENDENTSINCE 3 JUNE 2010); 8 SINN FÉIN; AND 3 SOCIALDEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY)


Name Party Constituency Dates as MLA

1. Anna LO Alliance Belfast South 2007-2. Arlene FOSTER DUP Fermanagh & South Tyrone 2003-3. Michelle MCILVEEN DUP Strangford 2007-4. Dawn PURVIS PUP

(Elected as PUP andIndependent from 3June 2010)

Belfast East 2007-

5. Mary BRADLEY SDLP Foyle 2003-6. Dolores KELLY SDLP Upper Bann 2003-7. Margaret RITCHIE SDLP South Down 2003-8. Martina ANDERSON SF Foyle 2007-9. Michelle GILDERNEW SF Fermanagh & South Tyrone 1998-10. Jennifer MCCANN SF Belfast West 2007-11. Claire MCGILL SF West Tyrone 2007-12. Caral NI CHUILIN SF Belfast North 2007-13. Michelle O’NEILL SF Mid-Ulster 2007-14. Sue RAMSEY SF South Down 1998-2003; and

29 November 2004-15. Caitriona RUANE SF South Down 2003-

33

Source:

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/mems_archive_1.htm

Former Female Members of theLegislative Assembly (MLAs) 1998-2010

20 FORMER FEMALE MLAs (2 ALLIANCE; 3 DEMOCRATIC UNIONISTPARTY (INCLUDING 1 FIRST ELECTED AS ULSTER UNIONIST);2 INDEPENDENT; 1 INDEPENDENT UNIONIST; 2 NORTHERN IRELANDWOMEN'S COALITION; 5 SINN FÉIN; 4 SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC ANDLABOUR PARTY; AND 1 ULSTER UNIONIST)


Name Party Constituency Dates as MLA

1. Mrs Eileen BELL Alliance North Down 1998-20072. Naomi LONG Alliance Belfast East 2003-5 July 20103. Iris ROBINSON DUP Strangford 1998-12 January 20104. Norah BEARE (Elected as UU

& DUP from 15January 2004)

Lagan Valley 2003-07

5. Diane DODDS DUP Belfast West 2003-076. Mrs Annie COURTNEY Ind Foyle 1998-20037. Geraldine DOUGAN Ind Mid Ulster 2003-078. Pauline ARMITAGE Ind Un East Londonderry 1998-20039. Prof Monica MCWILLIAMS NIWC South Belfast 1998-200310. Ms Jane MORRICE NIWC North Down 1998-200311. Ms Carmel HANNA SDLP Belfast South 1998-15 January 201012. Ms Brid RODGERS SDLP Upper Bann 1998-200313. Ms Patricia LEWSLEY SDLP Lagan Valley 1998-19December200614. Marietta FARRELL SDLP Lagan Valley January-May 200715. Ms Bairbre DE BRUN SF West Belfast 1998-27 October 200416. Ms Mary NELIS SF Foyle 1998-15 July 200417. Dr Dara O’HAGAN SF Upper Bann 1998-200318. Patricia O’RAWE SF Newry & Armagh 2003-0719. Kathy STANTON SF Belfast North 2003-0720. Joan Carson UUP Fermanagh & South Tyrone 1998-2003

34

Equal parliamentary representation of men andwomen and a Scottish Parliament were distantdreams in 1979. Mrs Thatcher’s election asBritain’s first female prime minister coincided withthe lowest numbers of women at Westminstersince 1951. In Scotland, only one woman MP waselected - the worst result since 1924. Anddevolution seemed dead after the 1979referendum on the Scotland Act.

Yet within a few years, the unpopularity ofThatcher and her policies in Scotland gave a freshimpetus to devolution demands. Although theConservatives refused to take part, represen-tatives of civil society and the opposition partiesagreed to participate in a Scottish ConstitutionalConvention. Whilst the Nationalists withdrew inearly 1989 and the Greens withdrew in early 1991but returned in 1995, from its inaugural meeting inMarch 1989 the Convention worked on adevolution scheme via consensus, finally agreed inOctober 1995.

Criticism of the low numbers of women involved atthe Convention’s first meeting – only 23 of 140 -prompted Labour members to propose setting upa Women's Issues working group on making aScottish Parliament truly representative.

Unsurprisingly, the most difficult area for theWomen’s Issues group and the Convention waselectoral arrangements, especially increasingwomen’s representation. The options consideredincluded electoral reform, quota systems and the50/50 option. The 50/50 option was the most

radical, given its certain impact on women'srepresentation. Originally proposed by the ScottishTrades Union Congress Women's Committee, itheld that half of elected representatives should bemen and half should be women.

Labour support pushed the 50/50 option up thepolitical agenda. At its 1990 Scottish Conferencethe party committed itself to equal representationfor men and women and ruled out “first-past-the-post” for a Scottish parliament. The Greens andthe Liberal Democrats maintained that propor-tional representation would guarantee femalerepresentatives. The Greens also supported a 30per cent quota of female candidates but theLiberal Democrats rejected 50/50 and quotas.

The eventual Convention scheme presented inOctober 1995 included an “Electoral Agreement”.This endorsed the principle of having equalrepresentation of men and women in the firstScottish Parliament. How parties might achievegender balance was left to them.

Ultimately, only equal numbers of Labour men andwomen entered the Scottish Parliament elected in1999 – an historic achievement maintained to thepresent time. This was achieved by “twinning” inthe “first-past-the-post” section, under whichparty members in two constituencies were askedto select a man and a woman as candidates. Theregional lists were “zipped”, male-female.

Over half of the female Members of the ScottishParliament (MSPs) elected to the Scottish

“The 50/50 campaign was vitaland it was totally focused ongetting equal numbers ofwomen into the ScottishParliament.”

RETIRED MP MARIA FYFE, 2010

ScottishParliament

35

Parliament in 2007 were Labour, and 20 of the 23Labour women had first been elected in 1999.Fiona MacKay and Meryl Kenny recentlydescribed Scottish Labour as “a class apart” ongender representation and asked “How hasLabour continued to perform so well?” Theyconcluded that incumbency, “resulting from theone-off measures taken in the first elections”, wasthe key factor. Their analysis of the 2007 resultspointed to an underlying decline; only one of theseven Labour MSPs elected to Holyrood for thefirst time in 2007 was female.

Otherwise gender balance proved elusive. InMarch 1998 the Liberal Democrat Scottishconference rejected intervention in candidateselection as inherently “illiberal”. Only two LiberalDemocrat women (of a group of 17) have beenelected to Holyrood since 1999.

The Nationalist conference also voted against aproposal to “zip” their candidate lists. However,women made up 42.8 per cent of NationalistMembers of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in1999, now reduced to a quarter. Although the SNPhas a high profile tradition of promoting womencandidates – Winnie (Ewing), Maggie (Ewing) andMargo (MacDonald) – and women such as NicolaSturgeon in key leadership positions – the partyhas been slow to address the issue of women’sequal representation.

The proportion of Conservative women atHolyrood increased to 29.4 per cent in 2007although the party opposes regulation as“patronising”. After returning only one Scottish MPat the 2010 general election the party is currentlyundergoing a comprehensive review of its strategynorth of the border and the position of AnnabelGoldie, MSP, Scottish Conservative leader sinceNovember 2005, is considered under threat. Itremains to be seen what part women might play inany Tory revival in Scotland and whether DavidCameron’s stated commitment to the selectionand election of women will have an impact oncandidate selection for the Scottish Parliament.

In 2003 the Scottish Socialist party used itsregional lists to promote women but lost all itsseats in 2007 whilst the Greens elected two femaleMSPs in 2003 and none otherwise. Although theGreens allocated 40 per cent of list places tofemale candidates with the goal of ensuring thatwomen took up half of the winnable places in2007, men topped five of the eight regional lists,and only two Green MSPs, both male, wereelected. Robin Harper’s decision to step down in2011 might provide an opening for Alison Johnstonwho now tops the Lothians list. The Scottish GreenParty retains a formal commitment to genderbalance. In 2011 the party will use “zipped” lists,with regions grouped to try and ensure balance.For instance, Lothians and Glasgow will begrouped together as containing the most“winnable” seats for the Greens.

Today many fear that the percentage of women inthe Scottish Parliament will fall again in 2011; thecurrent level stands at one-third. It was reportedrecently that Holyrood is set for a big turnover ofpoliticians next year. At least a dozen MSPs of allparties have declared that they will not stand atthe next Scottish Parliament elections, and thenumbers may rise. Quite apart from electoralfortunes, natural turnover presents a key challengeto the 50/50 legacy.

The quest for equal representation was adistinctive aspect of the devolution campaign thatshaped the Scottish Parliament established in1999. Yet positive action to ensure winnableplaces for female candidates seems a low priorityfor the 2011 Scottish Parliament. The gains madeon the founding of the Scottish Parliament are noguarantee for the future.

36

ScottishParliament

Summary of Female Membersof the Scottish Parliament(MSPs) elected1999-2007

Source:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk

ScottishParliament

1999*Numberof women

1999% ofwomen


Independent/Other 0 0% 2 50% 1 100%Scottish Conservative& Unionist Party

3 16.7% 4 22.2% 5 29.4%

Scottish Green Party 0 0% 2 28.6% 0 0%Scottish Labour Party 28 50% 28 56% 23 50%Scottish Liberal Democrats 2 11.8% 2 11.8% 2 12.5%Scottish National Party 15 42.9% 9 30% 12 25.5%Scottish Socialist Party 0 0% 4 66.7% 0 0%TOTAL (of 129 MSPs) 48 37.2% 51 39.5% 43 33.3%

2007***Numberof women

2003% ofwomen

2007% ofwomen

Notes:

* Dorothy Grace-Elder resigned from the Scottish National Party (SNP) on 1 May 2002 and Margo MacDonald was expelled from theSNP on 28 January 2003. Both sat as Independents until the end of the parliament and its gender composition was unchanged.

** SNP MSP Margaret Ewing died in March 2006. Richard Lochhead MSP resigned from the SNP regional list (replaced by MaureenWatt) to successfully fight the subsequent by-election. Mary Scanlon MSP resigned from the Conservative regional list (replaced byDavid Petrie) to contest the by-election. Rosemary Byrne resigned from the Scottish Socialist Party in September 2006 and joinedSolidarity. The Parliament’s gender composition changed to 79 men and 50 women.

*** SNP MSP Stefan Tymkewycz resigned in August 2007 and was replaced by Shirley-Anne Somerville. SNP MSP Bashir Mann died inFebruary 2009 and was replaced by Anne McLaughlin. The Parliament’s gender composition changed to 84 men and 45 women.

37

ScottishParliament

Current Female Members of theScottish Parliament (MSPs) 2010

45 OF 129 MSPs (1 INDEPENDENT; 5 SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE

& UNIONIST PARTY; 23 SCOTTISH LABOUR; 2 SCOTTISH

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT; AND 14 SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY)


1. Margo MACDONALD SNPInd

Lothians list 1999-20032003-

2. Annabel GOLDIE SCUP West of Scotland list 1999-3. Mary SCANLON SCUP Highlands & Islands list 1999-4. Nanette MILNE SCUP North East Scotland list 2003-5. Margaret MITCHELL SCUP Central Scotland list 2003-6. Elizabeth SMITH SCUP Mid Scotland & Fife list 2007-7. Wendy ALEXANDER Sc Lab Paisley North 1999-8. Jackie BAILLIE Sc Lab Dumbarton 1999-9. Sarah BOYACK Sc Lab Edinburgh Central 1999-10. Rhona BRANKIN Sc Lab Midlothian 1999-11. Cathie CRAIGIE Sc Lab Cumbernauld & Kilsyth 1999-12. Margaret CURRAN Sc Lab Glasgow Baillieston 1999-13. Helen EADIE Sc Lab Dunfermline East 1999-14. Patricia FERGUSON Sc Lab Glasgow Maryhill 1999-15. Karen GILLON Sc Lab Clydesdale 1999-16. Trish GODMAN Sc Lab West Renfrewshire 1999-17. Cathy JAMIESON Sc Lab Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley 1999-18. Johann LAMONT Sc Lab Glasgow Pollok 1999-19. Marilyn LIVINGSTONE Sc Lab Kirkcaldy 1999-20. Pauline MCNEILL Sc Lab Glasgow Kelvin 1999-21. Mary MULLIGAN Sc Lab Linlithgow 1999-22. Elaine MURRAY Sc Lab Dumfries 1999-23. Irene OLDFATHER Sc Lab Cunninghame South 1999-24. Cathy PEATTIE Sc Lab Falkirk East 1999-25. Elaine SMITH Sc Lab Coatbridge & Chryston 1999-26. Karen WHITEFIELD Sc Lab Airdrie & Shotts 1999-27. Rhoda GRANT Sc Lab Highlands & Islands list 1999-2003; and 2007-28. Claire BAKER Sc Lab Mid Scotland & Fife list 2007-29. Marlyn GLEN Sc Lab North East Scotland list 2007-30. Margaret SMITH SLD Edinburgh West 1999-

38

31. Alison MCINNES SLD North East Scotland list 2007-32. Roseanna CUNNINGHAM SNP Perth 1999-33. Linda FABIANI SNP Central Scotland list 1999-34. Christine GRAHAME SNP South of Scotland list 1999-35. Fiona HYSLOP SNP Lothians list 1999-36. Tricia MARWICK SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list

Central Fife1999-20072007-

37. Shona ROBISON SNP North East Scotland listDundee East

1999-20032003-

38. Nicola STURGEON SNP Glasgow listGlasgow Govan

1999-20072007-

39. Sandra WHITE SNP Glasgow list 1999-40. Maureen WATT SNP North East Scotland list 18 April 2006-

41. Aileen CAMPBELL SNP South of Scotland list 2007-42. Angela CONSTANCE SNP Livingston 2007-43. Christina MCKELVIE SNP Central Scotland list 2007-44. Anne MCLAUGHLIN SNP Glasgow list 2007-45. Shirley-Anne SOMERVILLE SNP Lothians list 2007-

Source:


39

ScottishParliament

Former Female Members of the ScottishParliament (MSPs) 1999-2010

24 FORMER MSPs (1 INDEPENDENT; 2 SCOTTISH CONSER-

VATIVE & UNIONIST; 2 SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY; 8 SCOTTISH

LABOUR PARTY; 1 SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRAT; 6 SCOTTISH

NATIONAL PARTY; AND 4 SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY))

Name Party Constituency Dates as MSP

1. Jean TURNER Ind Strathkelvin & Bearsden 2003-072. Lyndsay MCINTOSH SCUP Central Scotland list 1999-20033. Nanette MILNE SCUP North East Scotland list 2003-074. Shiona BAIRD Green North East Scotland list 2003-20075. Eleanor SCOTT Scottish Green

PartyHighlands & Islands list 2003-07

6. Susan DEACON Sc Lab Edinburgh East & Musselburgh 1999-20077. Janis HUGHES Sc Lab Glasgow Rutherglen 1999-20078. Sylvia JACKSON Sc Lab Stirling 1999-20079. Margaret JAMIESON Sc Lab Kilmarnock & Loudoun 1999-200310. Kate MACLEAN Sc Lab Dundee West 1999-200711. Maureen MACMILLAN Sc Lab Highlands & Islands list 1999-200712. Elaine THOMSON Sc Lab Aberdeen North 1999-200313. Christine MAY Sc Lab Central Fife 2003-200714. Nora RADCLIFFE SLD Gordon 2003-200715. Margaret EWING SNP Moray 1999-21 March 200616. Winnie EWING SNP Highlands & Islands list 1999-200317. Dorothy GRACE-ELDER SNP Glasgow list 1999-200318. Irene MCGUGAN SNP North East Scotland list 1999-200319. Fiona MCLEOD SNP West of Scotland list 1999-200320. Kay ULLRICH SNP West of Scotland list 1999-200321. Rosemary BYRNE SSP South of Scotland list 2003-200722. Frances CURRAN SSP West of Scotland list 2003-200723. Rosie KANE SSP Glasgow list 2003-200724. Carolyn LECKIE SSP Central Scotland list 2003-2007

Source:


40

Politics is still mostly male. According to the Inter-

Parliamentary Union (IPU), men hold over 80 per

cent of the seats worldwide and women occupy

19.2 per cent. However, there are grounds for

some general optimism at the international level.

The past ten years have seen the fastest growth in

the numbers of women in parliament worldwide

and the IPU recently found that “the number of

parliaments with female memberships less than 10

per cent has decreased significantly from 63 per

cent in 1995 to 37 per cent today.” At the time of

writing (September 2010), the IPU lists 25

countries in the world that have more than 30 per

cent female political representation, the level

considered as a “critical mass” of representation.

This list includes seven European Union member

states – Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland,

Belgium, Denmark, Spain, and Germany.

The IPU does not include the Scottish Parliament

or Welsh Assembly in its ranking of women in

parliaments worldwide because they are devolved

bodies. However, if they could be included, the

Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament

would be among the IPU’s “top 20”. Wales would

be in second place after Rwanda (56.3 per cent)

and before Sweden (46.4 per cent) and Holyrood

in 17th place after New Zealand (33.6 per cent). By

any reckoning that is a good result. Who would

have predicted it in 1979? Yet whilst women have

taken up more than a third of the seats in the

Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly since

1999 reverses are feared. Studies also show that

beyond women’s representation in the new

parliaments, gender disparities in Scotland and

Wales, for instance, on pay, remain stark.

Westminster is currently ranked at 52nd place in

the IPU ratings. This is an improvement but the

“Mother of Parliaments” still has some catching up

to do on women’s representation. The invisibility of

women throughout the recent UK general election

is of great concern as is the new cabinet line-up.

From a total of 29 attending Cabinet only four are

female - “A new kind of politics? With a top table

looking like that?” accused Katharine Viner in the

Conclusion

Women andParliaments in the UK

41

Guardian:

“This cabinet, diverse? With less than 14 per cent

women? Spain manages 53 per cent, Germany 37

per cent. Plural? With not a single minority ethnic

MP? A new kind of politics?”

The Fawcett Society has warned that the coalition

programme “could mean a backwards move on

women’s equality”. It is currently seeking a Judicial

Review of the government's recent budget on the

grounds that “under equality laws, we believe the

government should have assessed whether its

budget proposals would increase or reduce

inequality between women and men.” It has also

strongly deplored the apparent shelving of the

recommendations from the Speaker's Conference

on promoting women candidates. The current

failure to act on the Speaker’s Conference will be

regretted by campaigners for improving women’s

representation in Northern Ireland. None of the

political parties there have taken positive action to

draw women into politics although Sinn Féin leads

on the numbers of female candidates and

representatives. If ranked by the IPU, the Northern

Ireland Assembly would share 79th place with

Zimbabwe, within the 131 places allocated to 186

countries worldwide. However, it is noteworthy

that all of the devolved assemblies have offered

women more scope to take on leadership

positions than at Westminster. And some parties

have been conspicuously more successful than

others in selecting and electing women, notably

the Labour Party at Westminster, Holyrood and

Cardiff.

The 2011 elections for the devolved chambers in

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will shortly

send a message on the direction for women’s

representation in the United Kingdom. It would be

a betrayal of representative democracy if hard-

won advances for women were lost.

42

AM/s Assembly Members [Welsh Assembly]

Con Conservative

DUP Democratic Unionist PartyInd Independent

Ind Un Independent Unionist

IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union

IRA Irish Republican Army

Lab Labour

LD Liberal Democrat

MLA/s Members of the Legislative Assembly

[Northern Ireland]

MP/s Members of Parliament

MSP/s Members of the Scottish Parliament

NIWC Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition

Plaid Plaid Cymru

PUP Progressive Unionist Party

Sc Lab Scottish Labour

SCUP Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

SDLP Social and Democratic Labour Party

SF Sinn Féin

SLD Scottish Liberal Democrat

SNP Scottish National Party

SSP Scottish Socialist Party

UDA Ulster Defence Association

UVF Ulster Volunteer Force

UUP Ulster Unionist Party

WRDA Women’s Resource and Development

Agency [Northern Ireland]

House of Commons -

http://www.parliament.uk

National Assembly of Wales -


Northern Ireland Assembly -

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk

Scottish Parliament -


Other useful websites which give information on

women’s political representation include:

Centre for Women & Democracy -

http://www.cfwd.org.uk

Engender -

http://www.engender.org.uk

European Women's Lobby -

http://www.womenlobby.org/site/hp.asp

Fawcett Society -

http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk

Inter-Parliamentary Union -

http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm

International IDEA -

http://www.idea.int

The Active Learning Centre -

http://www.activelearningcentre.org

The Downing Street Project

http://thedowningstreetproject.ning.com

The Hansard Society -

http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk

Note on the tablesand useful websites

Abbreviations usedin tables and text

THE TABLES IN THIS HANDBOOK HAVE BEEN COMPILED ONTHE BASIS OF INFORMATION GIVEN ON THE PARLIAMENTWEBSITES. THE PARLIAMENT WEBSITES ARE:

Published by:The Active Learning Centre

The University of Glasgow

11 Southpark Terrace

Glasgow G12 8LG

UK

E-mail: [email protected]

Supported by:The support of the JRSST Charitable Trust in

producing this Handbook is gratefully acknowledged.

The JRSST Charitable Trust is endowed by

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd.

Designed by The Fourth Craw

ISBN: 978-0-9565140-2-8

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